This is the first installment in a series on food allergies. Here you’ll read about my daughter’s early-warning signs of food allergies, her first allergic reactions, our experiences with food allergy testing and the diagnosis.

My daughter Avery was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies a few months ago, throwing our family into a frenzy of activity we never expected and setting us on a new course. Caring for a child with food allergies can be scary, but I’ve learned that with education, support and partnership, it is entirely manageable.

When I first learned about Avery’s food allergies, I immediately went into research mode. I tracked down books, organizations, support groups and other families with food allergies. Now other families are turning to me and this blog for guidance and support. This series of posts is intended to give an overview of Avery’s individual circumstances, how we manage her food allergies, basic education, and a list of resources I’ve found helpful.

How we found out

It seems fitting to begin at the beginning – how we found out there was a problem. Let me start by saying that we don’t have a history of food allergies in our families. I did not avoid peanuts or any other food while I was pregnant or breastfeeding (something I would definitely do different if I could go back and time, and definitely if I were to have any more children).

Like most mothers of children with food allergies, I suspected there was something wrong very early in Avery’s life. She had awful eczema, despite the very sensitive (not to mention expensive) lotions and body wash we used. We were given ointments to use, prescriptions for steroid creams, advice on bath frequency, but nothing was helping. I can’t remember how many times I took her into the pediatrician’s office to try to figure out what was going on with her skin.

He quizzed me on the types of formula I used – did I switch recently? No, she had only had breast milk. I asked (many times) if the food I was eating could be contributing to Avery’s eczema. He insisted it could not – he said incorrectly that the latest studies showed food did not pass through breast milk. This was wrong. Although his intentions were good, I’ve learned definitively that food proteins (which can cause the allergic reaction) are transferable through breast milk and can contribute to eczema and other reactions in infants.

Her eczema continued to be a challenge, the worst was her scalp. She would scratch it so hard and so often that she would get sores and scabs. This broke my heart and I would lather her scalp in baby oil, Aquaphor or body lotion at night to keep it from itching. But it wasn’t until we started to give Avery milk products in crackers, yogurt and cheese, around 8-9 months, that she really started to look strange. We didn’t know it then, but what we were seeing were outward symptoms of her food allergy to milk. The dark circles under her eyes are known as allergy shiners, and the rash around her mouth and on her face was a combination of contact reactions to the protein in milk and eczema flare-ups from ingesting milk. Here are some pictures where you can see this happening.

At Avery’s first birthday party, we gave her a cupcake with frosting. I’m guessing it contained milk, eggs, soy (vegetable oil) and was possibly cross-contaminated with peanuts. She tried one taste of the frosting, in front of a rather large audience, and declined the rest. I then tried to coax her to eat more. I’ve since learned that babies (and adults) with food allergies often reject foods they are allergic to, even if they don’t realize it.

I tore off little bites of the cupcake and fed it to her. Within moments she started arching her back to get out of her high chair. She acted like we were punishing her, when we were trying to celebrate! She started scratching at her scalp and face, so I quickly wiped her down and got her out of her chair. I gave her a dose of Children’s Benedryl (something we did occasionally when her eczema was really bad). Then I noticed how irritated the skin on her face and and scalp was, so I applied hydrocortizone ointment. All she wanted to do was breastfeed to be comforted, so we had some quiet time in her bedroom while the guests waited.

I never thought to check the rest of her body for hives or other signs of distress. Within about 20 minutes I could tell she was feeling better, but she was subdued and not very happy. Here you can see her during her gift opening, the top of her forehead and above her eye are still quite red.

At this point I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. I gave her cow’s milk in a cup a couple of days later – I expected she would start drinking cow’s milk at one year old, but she had some red, raised bumps and I couldn’t tell if it was just her eczema flaring up or hives. Her one year appointment was in another week and this time I was going to insist on food allergy testing. I had brought it up before, but her doc wasn’t convinced it was necessary. I decided to keep pumping breast milk at work for at least another week, even though I desperately wanted to ditch the pump!

Unfortunately Avery’s one year appointment was delayed another week because I had to attend a funeral. It was during that week when she had another reaction. I made scrambled eggs for dinner (a rare treat). Avery had never had eggs before, and I was excited for her to try them. She was now older than one year old and allowed to eat them… I didn’t realize that eggs were one of the top 8 food allergies or I definitely would have waited. I gave her a couple of pieces and she ate them. I tried to give her more, but she refused and signed “all done.” I knew she was hungry, I didn’t understand what was happening.

I took Avery out of her high chair and began changing her clothes. I noticed she had some splotches (hives) on her chest. Her forehead started getting really red. Then the splotches turned into puffy, red streaks. She began scratching her chest and crying. I started to worry. I gave her a dose of Children’s Benedryl and ran a bath. I was watching her very closely and thought the bath with a soothing oatmeal packet would help. She started crying hysterically and the whites of her eyes turned red. She coughed a couple of times. I called the pediatrician’s office and spoke with a nurse. She was very concerned and told me to get there right away or call an ambulance.

I now know that Avery was having a severe allergic reaction, and today I would need to administer the EpiPen and call an ambulance. At the time, though, I put her in her pajamas and drove her to the doctor’s office. He gave her more Benedryl and monitored her for the next hour. She stabilized and he sent us off for a blood draw to test for food allergies. He said to assume she was allergic to milk and eggs and gave me a prescription for an EpiPen to pick up on the way home.

A diagnosis, but no plan

It took 10 more days to get the results back due to technology problems in the lab. Meanwhile, not knowing any better, a couple of days later I made scrambled eggs again. This time they were just for Alex. Shocking to me, Avery had the same reaction as before. I was afraid and didn’t want to use the EpiPen. So I gave her Children’s Benedryl (we should buy stock), and luckily, the reaction stopped. I know now that Avery is severely allergic to eggs and can have a reaction if exposed to airborne particles from steam rising off of eggs. Now I know better and realize I should have used the EpiPen.
Over a week after the blood test, we finally had our results. Avery was allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and soy. The doctor said to assume she was allergic to all tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc.), fish and shellfish, as chances were very high she would be and not to take any chances. He gave me a referral to a board-certified pediatric allergist. If you live in the Twin Cities and would like his contact information, e-mail me.

It took two more weeks to get in to see the allergist and I was beside myself. What could I feed my child? How could I keep her safe? What about daycare? Did we have to throw away the peanut butter? I was scared for the present and future, and also felt guilty about the past – like giving her birthday cake that wasn’t safe for her to eat. And giving her those foods through my breast milk all those months without realizing how it was affecting her.

And all of this came during a very difficult time in our lives – Mitch and the kids had been in a car accident and we were trying to find a replacement car and deal with the emotional trauma, it was the holidays, a close family member was having a significant mental health crisis that we were trying to help with, and my friend Emilie had just died, leaving behind two small children. I seriously was at my limit of what I could manage. Figuring out what to serve for dinner when everything in the house seemed unsafe was almost more than I could bear.

But there was hope, and we made it through this difficult time. I’m happy to report that four months after her diagnosis, Avery is an extremely healthy, happy toddler. In fact, she’s much happier and healthier today now that we now what’s going on with her and are managing her allergies appropriately.

You can find more of my food allergy posts, tips & recipes on my Food Allergy page. I’d also love to connect with you on my Marketing Mama facebook page and twitter. This post, and all posts on this blog, are written from my experiences as a parent of a child with food allergies. I am not a medical expert and encourage you to consult with a doctor on your personal medical situation.

I am a friend of Adam Bateman’s he sent me to your blog. I have recently found out my daughter is allergic to eggs and peanuts and was told to stay away from tree nuts, fish and shellfish also. This is new to me and I feel lost as to what to feed her. Thanks for posting your blog.

At dinner today I thought, “I should see if Marketing Mama has posted anything about food allergies lately.” Perfect timing. As a mom to a 15 month old who has a severe milk, soy, and peanut allergy and a slight allergy to wheat and beef, I am beginning to run out of things to prepare for my son. He seemed to refuse everything I offered today. I trust his instincts (he refused to put milk formula in his mouth when he was 6 months old, same with soy products.) I am looking forward to the next installments on this blog topic! Certainly, I will do whatever I need to to make sure my son gets the food he needs, but some days I feel like I am running a restaurant and nobody is happy!

Thanks everyone for your comments. To the Barton Family, I sent you a private e-mail to see how I can help.

Heather – so glad you checked back in. Have you bought any food allergy cookbooks? I can share with you some of the typical meals and foods I buy if you are interested… I make a lot of things that would work with your sons diet, too. E-mail me if you’d like.

Our family has been through sooo much with our little boy and his severe food allergies and Eczema too. I can really relate to how scary that is…constantly worrying about their health and safety while just trying to get through each day with itching and misery…and not having "convenient" foods anymore. It is so challenging. Our little one has been through all kinds of testing, allergists, children's hospitals, meds and creams etc and it seemed like one road block after another. Our original allergist made our son (at 2yrs of age) steroid dependent and we finally sought out a 2nd opinion and were able to successfully wean him off. I have lots of info I could share if you ever want to email me!!! Let me just say though…after EVERY thing we went through, our prayers were truly answered when we started him on a children's probiotic from Vidazorb. It has changed our life. Of course, we still avoid the severe-reaction causing foods, but his Eczema is nearly gone and he can eat lots more foods that were making his skin break out!!! I am sorry to hear about your daughter….I hope this helps! Caroline *tweet me at smilinggreenmom!

Wow, reading your blog post about your daughter Avery is like deja-vu for me. My daughter Francie, now 5, started her first year of life in the same way. It was a very scary time for everyone, I remember feeling so helpless. We now know that Francie is severely allergic to peanuts, ALL fish, and sesame seeds. She is slightly allergic to red meat and eggs, and has grown out of her milk allergy. We have started a website for kids like ours, http://www.ItchyKidsClub.com. Your wit and wisdom are a breath of pollen-free air BLOG ON, GIRL!!

I found your blog while blog hopping and I'm so glad. I already know my 7 month old has dairy, egg and peanut allergies by how she reacted when I ate them, but I think she may have a soy and or fish allergy (can remember which I had had) by the eye and mouth rashes you pictured here. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Thank you so much for this. I feel like an echo of all the previous commenters, but my 4 month old is allergic to dairy, peanuts and eggs, and i thought that was it… but now i realize that the rash on her chest could be pointing to a soy allergy, too, which has become my diet staple. thank you thank you for all the info here.

I am having the same issues with my son , but everything is falling on deaf ears i am still nursing and now in poor health since he will not eat anymore than oatmeal ..maybe carrots …he had very bad excema and hives episodes , i have eliminate dairy , out of my diet then his excema disapeared i eleminated eggs and lowered my wheat intake his smelly skin leasions under his ear lobes and scalp disapeard ,….now there is soy and i have to fine subsitutes and see if his last remining rashes disapere , she dose the samething refusing food ..in the night screaming in pain arching his back . slamming his head of the chair , and floor …it even seems banan's make him react ..im having the hardest time ….thankyou for putting this out there it helps me out alot ! My 5 year old is also allergic to dairy and soy but im still concerned she has more things but doctors tell me no she is fine even though she never is fully healthy . gah ! as a mother is is very frustrating isnt it ..bye for now

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